Tasting Her, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel
by Will Shaking Spear
The good folks at your friendly neighborhood sex supply shop were kind enough to send me a book to review. “Hey! I love books!â€Â I said. I’m more of a non-fiction/ “how to†kind of guy, and I thought this might be a welcome change of pace. I’ve never purchased literotica before because I never thought it was up my alley. True, I was a bit disappointed at first that this did not turn out to be a pop-up book (especially since the cover happens to be extra-alluring), but I decided to give it a try.
When I first received Tasting Her: Oral Sex Stories I was simultaneously excited and cautious. Do I have the expertise for this? I felt that using the supposed male predisposition to visual pornography would be a cop-out for not doing the best I could. I was determined to like erotica! I made my declaration publicly (the living room); my girlfriend almost shrieks with delight. We will become erotica buddies! We will have a book club for two! This was the plan at least.
Tasting Her is a book not written by, but edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel. She has quite a fan base, as it turns out. Her resume is full of contributions to very notable periodicals both political and pornographic. Her love of erotica is only paralleled be her passion for eating cupcakes. The phrase “cupcake†is not a euphemism and you can find her cupcake blog here.
Now, let’s get to the nitty gritty. I encourage the literotica uninitiated to give Rachel Kramer Bussel’s work a try. Most of her books are themed, and I am positive you can find something up your alley. Tasting Her is about…exactly that. One can open the book to whichever title catches one’s fancy, or one may read it cover to cover. Reading it out loud in bed could be loads of fun. This particular book runs the gauntlet of story styles and intensity but the theme held true. Apparently, pussy turns out to be more than America’s number one breakfast food. The editor contributes one of her own stories to the mix and confirms just that. “Cunnilingus 101†is about a young freshman male at UC Berkley desperate to graduate from basic economics to advanced oral sex. If this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, don’t worry.  There are plenty of stories to choose from and you never really know what you are going to get. “Spill†is a story about cardigan-wearing gym-rat femme subs. I bet you didn’t see that one coming, did you? The book’s composition is quite nice, and relatively diverse. Buried deep in the book is a funky-cool story, “Hold On I’m Coming,†which turned out to utilize a Motown motif.
The journey into erotic story land was a real trip. However, the journey was worth it because something good came from the experience. By expanding my horizons into erotic stories I have fallen more into the girlfriend camp of kink. This is a good thing. If you’re a couple (or hope to be at some point in the future) then perhaps you can put your reading to use for more than your own cheap thrills. It turned out to be a lot more exciting to read a story if I knew that my lady friend already loved that story. We decided to dog ear our books, put notes in our margins and highlight should we think it necessary (we are nerds, but it works for us). I found this not only added enjoyment to stories, but it also taught me a bit more about my significant other. This would be a fine book for just such a thing. I know that E2B has plenty of books that are great for just such an experiment. Considering that most of these stories are only a few pages, this is a great way to sneak a quick peek into the darker side of your partner’s imagination. Now, what you do with that information is entirely up to you, my friend.
“Tasting Her†scored a bit higher on my vanilla meter than I would have liked, but sometimes that’s not such a bad thing. This is a great excuse to turn off the TV. It might also be a good way to delve deeper into your own imagination. Stories inspire and motivate, and why shouldn’t they do the same for your bedroom life? I recommend the book for the oral sex story aficionado, for couples who might like to share a quick read, or people who like to send unsubtle messages to the cute person sitting next to them on the Red Line.
